Canadian standout John Makdessi has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 162 match-up with Edson Barboza. Stepping in to take on Barboza is fellow Brazilian Rafaello Oliveira.
UFC officials have yet to confirm the injury, but MMASucka.com has confirmed with sources close to the fight.
Oliveira (15-5) is coming off a much needed victory over Yoislandy Izquierdo at UFC 148 in Las Vegas. The highly touted Oliveira came in to the UFC riding a four-fight winning streak, but lost his first two matches. In his debut he was submitted by Gleison Tibau at UFC 130 and he followed up with a loss to Yves Edwards at UFC on Versus 6.
Last December Oliveira was expected to take on Michael Chiesa at UFC on FOX 5, but was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a broken hand. This will be the Brazilian’s first fight since July of 2012.
The Brazilian has won “Fight of the Night” bonuses in three of his six UFC fights.Barboza (11-1) has tasted defeat just once in his MMA career and that was to Jamie Varner at UFC 146 this past May. His last appearance inside the octagon he picked up a submission victory against Lucas Martins at UFC on FX 7.
UFC 162 is expected to go down on July 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be headlined by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva who takes on Chris Weidman.
